News briefs 3-25

According to Pemiscot County Sheriff Tommy Greenwell, thieves are taking the aluminum and copper vases from the headstones in different cemeteries throughout the counties.

"Pemiscot County deputies will be increasing their patrols in the cemetery areas to deter and combat these types of thefts," said Greenwell in a news release.

Anyone with information concerning these types of thefts is asked to contact the sheriff's department at 573-333-4101.

CARUTHERSVILLE - The theft of emergency equipment from school buses is under investigation in Caruthersville.

Caruthersville Police were contacted at 6:59 a.m. Monday by Jimmy Hibler. Hibler told officers someone had entered three school buses owned by DAEOC Head Start and taking the fire extinguishers and the first aid kits.

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- A Department of Corrections investigator charged with involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of a fugitive will face trial in a central Missouri county that includes a prison and many residents employed by the state prison system.

In a brief appearance Monday before Circuit Judge Benjamin Lewis, Steven R. Julian, 46, of Altenburg, Mo., entered a plea of not guilty and his attorney, Stephen Wilson, filed a motion for a change of venue stating that he and prosecutors had agreed to send the case to Callaway County.

Callaway County is just north of the state capitol of Jefferson City. There is a prison in Fulton, Mo., the county seat, as well as prisons in Audrain County to the north and two prisons, as well as the headquarters of the prison system, in Cole County to the south.

A coroner's inquest held Feb. 26 determined that Julian was not justified in using deadly force when he attempted on Feb. 14 to apprehend parole absconder Zachary C. Snyder. Swingle charged Julian with involuntary manslaughter, a Class D felony, on Feb. 27.